No. 29 Okuma Chevrolet
5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway
Budweiser Racing Team Notes of Interest
· Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Okuma Chevrolet team raced to a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono Raceway after starting from deep in the field in the 32nd position.
· Harvick made progress in the early stages of the 200-lap race at a rapid pace, climbing to the 21st position within the first 15 laps. The only obstacle for Harvick in the early part of the race was a loose-handling condition at the exits of the turns.
· A miscue in the pits during the second caution at lap 18 resulted in not enough fuel being added to the No. 29 Okuma Chevrolet. As such, Harvick would be forced to pit out of sequence during the next two stops. Fortunately, the race went green from lap 21 to lap 110. By the time the third caution of the race waved at lap 110, Harvick was in sequence with the leaders and running in the eighth position.
· Harvick competed amongst the top-10 cars during the next 50 circuits around the track despite trying to compensate for a loose-handling condition that required a little finesse at the exits of the turns.
· The fourth and final caution of the race waved at lap 154 for debris. Harvick was in the 10th position when green-flag racing resumed at lap 159 and he quickly went to work – picking up five spots during the next two laps.
· The No. 29 Okuma Chevrolet team made its final pit stop during green-flag conditions on lap 173 – taking four tires and enough fuel to finish the race. The race ended without incident and Harvick in the fifth position.
· Jeff Gordon scored the win in Sunday’s race at Pocono. Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Harvick completed the top five.
· Carl Edwards continues to lead the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings but by a much smaller margin after he failed to finish Sunday’s race due to an engine failure. Jimmie Johnson sits six points behind in second place. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Harvick and Kyle Busch complete the top five in the point standings.
· Follow along each weekend with Harvick and the team on Twitter. Check out @KevinHarvick for behind-the-scenes information straight from the driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet. Get live updates from the track each weekend from @Black29Car, the PR team for Harvick. Also, follow @RCRracing and @RCR29KHarvick for additional information about the Richard Childress Racing organization.
Harvick on his finish at Pocono: “It was a total team effort to get our Okuma Chevy up there. They did a great job at the beginning playing the pit strategy and we got to the top 10 before we even got to halfway. Good solid day for us. We just have a little bit of work to do before we come back. We had a good car in qualifying. I just didn’t do a very good job of qualifying. That is probably about where we should have finished though. Solid top five and we’ll go on with this.”
The following is the finish position of the other beverage-sponsored cars participating in the 5-Hour Energy 500:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet team finished sixth
Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Affliction Clothing Live Fast Ford team finished eighth
Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 4 Red Bull Toyota, finished 12th
Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota team finished 22nd
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, finished 23rd
Scott Wimmer, driver of the No. 7 SPEED Energy/Harris Teeter Dodge, finished 38th
The following is the finish position of the other Richard Childress Racing teams participating in the 5-Hour Energy 500:
Paul Menard, driver of the No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet, finished 14th
Clint Bowyer and the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet finished 16th
Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished 20th
Next Sunday NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will travel to Brooklyn, Mich., to race in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway. On Friday, SPEED is scheduled to air the first practice at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by final practice at 3:30 p.m. ET. SPEED will also air Saturday’s qualifying session at 1 p.m. ET. TNT will provide the live race broadcast on Sunday starting with the pre-race show at noon ET. SIRIUSXM NASCAR Radio and MRN Radio will air radio coverage of the on-track action.